Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
Legendary Sydney pub and long-standing live music venue The Annandale Hotel is making a welcome return, re-opening after undergoing renovations first started last December (that saw gigs unceremoniously cancelled), but the bad news is that it seems the venue owners are scaling back music in favour of focussing on cocktails, craft beer, and gourmet food.
The Annandale’s owners, the Oscars Hotel Group, are re-booting the Parramatta favourite with a new fit-out, courtesy of architect and designer Elaine Richardson, along with a fancy new selection of breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus courtesy of executive chef John Rankin.
Richardson’s experience – rejuvenating and refurbishing hotels and local venue the Bat and Ball – has seen the Annandale benefit from a gentrified touch, with a larger courtyard, and all-day dining bistro, casual coffee bar, and upgrading the main and outside bars with a new selection of cocktails, wines, and boutique beer.
The venue will “continue to pay homage” to its live music heritage, according to The Music, by “providing room for local and international singer-songwriters, unplugged and bluegrass artists to occupy the intimate stage and fill the historic rooms with their traditional soundtrack.”
Maybe we’re reading too much into the wording, but that sounds suspiciously like a lack of amplification or interest in hosting louder rock bands.
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Meanwhile, the plaques purchased in the Annandale’s Buy A Brick campaign will be on show throughout the pub’s new design as “a constant reminder of a commitment to keeping the iconic hotel alive,” according to Oscars.
The hotels group first purchased the Annandale in May, 2013 following a long-winding saga that led it entering into receivership in February last year. They emphasised their intentions to maintain the hotel’s legacy as a live music venue, aligning with the wishes of Lecihhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne, who had been campaigning hard for the live music venue in the last year; wishing to make it the central landmark in a proposed live music precinct.
Plans for the ‘rock n roll hub’, running along Parramatta Road from Petersham to Sydney University with Annandale at its crux, never materialised.
The Oscars Hotel Group officially took over the Annandale Hotel in September, even re-instating former owners, Matt and Dan Rule, as music bookers at the pub as a sign of good faith.
“We’ll be continuing live music until the end of the year at least,” said Oscars Hotel Group General Manager Damien Cameron at the time. “The venue’s got a name for live music and we’ll be giving it a red hot go.”
